East Orange woman is charged with murder for shooting death of man in Newark

NEWARK -- Authorities today charged a 27-year-old East Orange woman with murder following the early morning shooting death of a man who had been driving her home from a party.

The killing was the second one in 24 hours in Newark, after a 34-year-old Florida man was shot and killed outside a city bar early Sunday morning. No arrests have been made in that homicide. The two are unrelated.

In the latest shooting, Danielle Johnson was taken into custody at the scene, where police discovered the body of Andre Austin, 23, in the driver’s seat of his car, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said. Austin had been shot once in the chest.

A handgun was recovered at the scene, but motive for the killing remained unknown, said Essex County Assistant Prosecutor William Neafsey, who is handling the case. It was also unclear whether the gun authorities say was used in the killing belongs to Johnson.

She and Austin had attended a party in East Orange that evening and know each other, Neafsey said. Their relationship is unclear.

Austin had been driving Johnson home when he stopped his Acura Integra on the corner of Tremont and Chelsea avenues around 3 a.m. today, prosecutors said.

Witnesses reported hearing more than one gunshot, authorities said. When police arrived a short time later, Austin was slumped over with a single gunshot wound. Johnson never left the scene, the prosecutor’s office said. She was questioned and arrested later in the day. Johnson was charged with murder and weapons offenses and bail was set at $300,000.

A man who answered the phone at Austin’s home this afternoon and identified himself as the victim’s father, called it "a very traumatic time for us right now."

Detectives are still searching for the gunman who shot and killed Bernardo Bermudez, 34, outside Stadium Sports Bar & Grill early Sunday morning.

Bermudez, of Dade County, Fla., had gotten into an argument with the gunman inside the Mulberry Street bar, said Katherine Carter, a prosecutor’s office spokeswoman. The fight spilled outside, at which point the suspect pulled out a gun and shot Bermudez at 3:11 a.m., authorities said.